
Class 

Book 

CopyrightN?. 



CflEOUGHT DEPOSIT. 



The Coming Day 



By 
FORD C. OTTMAN 

Author of The Unfolding of the Ages, GocTs Oath, 
Imperialism and Christ, 
J. Wilbur Chapman — A Biography 



Serum tamen tacitis judicium venit pedibus 

("Although lingering, judgment comes with silent feet") 



PHILADELPHIA 
The Sunday School Times Company 



* vt \^a 



.0? 



Copyright, 1921, by 
The Sunday School Times Company 



Printed in the United States of America 



DEC 29 1921 
.©CU654008" 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introduction 5 

I. Predictive Prophecy 9 

II. The Voice of the Prophets 14 

III. The King of the Kingdom 21 

IV. The Star of Jacob 26 

V. Risen to Reign 32 

VI. During the King's Absence 39 

VII. The Blessed Hope 44 

VIII. The Day of the Lord 50 

IX. Jerusalem and the Jews . . 58 

X. The Sceptre of Israel 68 

Summary yj 



INTRODUCTION 

HAVE you ever wished that you had a 
small book giving the main teachings 
of prophecy in relation to Christ's Return, 
so simply expressed that a person who has 
not studied this truth can readily follow it? 
You have such a book here. 

The books on Scripture prophecy and the 
Second Coming of Christ are many and 
valuable, the last ten years having seen 
strong contributions in this field. But it 
would be difficult to name any other one 
small manual of the subject that does so 
simply and yet so thoroughly what Dr. Ott- 
man has accomplished. He takes either the 
skeptical or the believing reader through 
the great teachings of Scripture, and gives 
the positions accepted by a large body of 
Christian Bible students to-day. 

One can use the book either to read 
straight through, which can be done in a lit- 
tle more than an hour, or to go further into 

s 



6 Introduction 

the matter in one's own Bible study by tak- 
ing advantage of the many Scripture refer- 
ences given in the footnotes. A Bible class 
could have a profitable time by devoting ten 
lessons to the ten chapters, giving opportun- 
ity at the close of each session for the asking 
of questions and the expressing of views on 
the material of the chapter. 

The brief Summary of future events, with 
Scripture references, given at the end of the 
book, is an invaluable help for one's Bible 
study, and is most useful for reference as to 
the many details there listed. 

The writer counts it a privilege to testify 
to the great personal blessing he received 
from the reading of this book. His heart 
burned within him as he followed the sim- 
ple, definite, glorious declarations of God's 
Word so powerfully presented by this 
Spirit-directed minister of the Gospel. 
While God can use crude writing and im- 
perfect workmanship, surely God delights 
also to empower his children for worthy 
workmanship and skill in expression; and 
this latter characteristic adds to the value of 
Dr. Ottman's study. There is a grip on the 
imagination in such a sentence, for example, 



Introduction 7 

as that describing the coming Day of the 
Lord, that "in almost every passage there is 
the dreary moan of an impending tempest." 
Reading on through the impressive account 
of "the ordered events that shall solemnly 
toll in the Day of the Lord," one rejoices to 
find that "yet the Day, great and terrible 
though it be, ends in a sunset glow of 
peace." 

Many, perhaps without realizing it, have 
waited for this little book. May it have a 
large circulation among the people of God, 
and among those not yet the people of God 
whom its message may bring to such faith in 
his Son that they shall be saved and abide 
in him, so that, when he shall appear, they 
may have confidence, and not be ashamed 
before him at his coming ( 1 John 2 : 28) . 

Charles Gaij^audst Trumbuix. 



CHAPTER I 
PREDICTIVE PROPHECY 

REDEMPTION through a suffering yet 
^ conquering Messiah is the central 
theme of prophecy. The heel of the Re- 
deemer would be bruised in crushing the 
serpent's head. 

That was the first prophetic announce- 
ment. 1 Some apprehension of its meaning 
must have penetrated the dull consciousness 
of the first guilty pair as the gates of para- 
dise closed behind them. The clothing that 
covered them was the silent witness to the 
blood shed in their behalf. 2 

The plan of redemption, contemplating 
the final glory of the Redeemer, becomes 
more definite and clear as revelation pro- 
gresses. 

The Old Testament prophets, speaking as 
they were moved by the Holy Ghost, were 

i. Genesis 3: 15. 2. Genesis 3:21. 



io The Coming Day 

holy men of God. 3 They not only had a 
message for their own times but also pre- 
dicted events that were to come to pass in 
future generations. Many of these events, 
some of them hundreds of years after their 
prediction, did come to pass; and they so 
definitely and so literally fulfilled the pre- 
dictions that none can doubt the divine wis- 
dom that inspired them. 

Many of the prophecies, because they 
contemplate the end of the age and the re- 
turn of our Lord from heaven, are yet to be 
fulfilled. The terms of these predictions, 
sometimes obscure and often expressed in 
the language of symbol, have been so vari- 
ously interpreted that this field of investiga- 
tion has become an area of danger. 

But apart from all obscurity many future 
events are predicted in terms so clear and so 
unmistakable in meaning that from them we 
may derive a definite conception of what is 
yet to take place in the ordered counsels of 
God. 

While no exhaustive study is to be made 
of these predictions we shall endeavor, so 
far as possible, to give a clear but brief out- 

3. 2 Peter 1: 21. 



Predictive Prophecy n 

line of those events which, according to the 
prophetic Scriptures, are yet to come to 
pass. 

Many have expressed their lack of inter- 
est in Bible study, which is largely due to a 
failure to discern the unity of God's plan 
involving an all-glorious consummation to 
which all things are moving and to which all 
things are making their contribution. 

The literal fulfilment of prophecies al- 
ready accomplished should confirm our faith 
in the literal fulfilment of other predictions 
given by the same prophets concerning 
events that are related to the coming of the 
Lord and the consummation of the age. 

Conflicting interpretations have confused 
and discouraged prophetic study. This is 
peculiarly unfortunate because it has led 
some to the conviction that the study of the 
prophets is fruitless and leads only to per- 
plexity. 

We may be absolutely certain, if Scrip- 
ture authority is accepted, that our Lord is 
to return to this world, and this fact is com- 
monly accepted by evangelical Christians, 
and incorporated in all evangelical creeds. 
Beyond believing in the mere fact of his re- 



12 The Coming Day 

turn a large number are otherwise in con- 
fessed ignorance. 

Ignoring all conflicting schools of thought, 
it is our purpose to examine the terms of 
the prophecies and determine, if possible, 
the general plan according to which they are 
to be fulfilled. 

We believe that many prophetic state- 
ments, if taken at their face value, irresisti- 
bly force us to certain conclusions which 
cannot be contested without a repudiation 
of Scripture authority. 

On the basis of such conclusions it ought 
to be possible for any one to get a clear idea 
of the future course of prophecy. Having 
obtained from predictions that are plain a 
general view of the whole subject it will be 
comparatively easy to gain additional light 
from a study of the more obscure passages. 

We are sure that for the Christian noth- 
ing can be of more absorbing interest than a 
knowledge of what God has been disposed 
to reveal of his plans and purposes, and we 
are equally certain that whoever devotes 
himself to a study of that revelation will 
find the Bible a more precious and alluring 
volume than he ever suspected it could be. 



Predictive Prophecy 13 

Such a study cannot fail to stimulate a 
more earnest love for God's Word and to 
deepen the desire for the possession of its 
complete revelation. 



CHAPTER II 
THE VOICE OF THE PROPHETS 

THE kingdom of God, established in 
power and glory upon the earth, is the 
prophetic burden of the ages past. For the 
coming of that kingdom the Church has 
been instructed to hope and to pray. 

"Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in 
earth, as it is in heaven" — the prayer that 
has been ascending through the centuries — 
has not been answered, and it never will be 
answered until supplemented by that other 
petition, recorded in the second Psalm, "Ask 
of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for 
thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of 
the earth for thy possession." 

The character of the kingdom and the 
manner of its institution can be determined 
only by the Scriptures that predict them. 
There is not and there never has been any 
ambiguity of statement. In their descrip- 
tion of the kingdom the prophets are as clear 

14 



The Voice of the Prophets 15 

as a bell. A few passages are enough to de- 
fine their conception of its character. 

The earth shall be full of the knowledge 
of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. 1 

Peace shall prevail throughout the earth. 

The mountains shall bring peace to the 
people, and the little hills, by righteousness. 2 

Truth shall spring out of the earth ; and 
righteousness shall look down from heaven. 
Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good ; 
and our land shall yield her increase. 3 

The nations shall beat their swords into 
plowshares, and their spears into pruning- 
hooks : nation shall not lift up a sword 
against nation, neither shall they learn war 
any more. 4 

During the all prevailing peace every man 
shall sit under his vine and under his fig 
tree ; and none shall make them afraid : for 
the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken 
it. For all people will walk in the name of 
the Lord our God for ever and ever. 5 

The people shall build houses and inhabit 
them; and they shall plant vineyards, and 
eat the fruit of them. Before they call, God 

1. Isaiah 11:9. 4. Micah 4:3. 

2. Psalm 72: 3. 5. Micah 4: 4> 5. 

3. Psalm 85: 11, 12. 
t 



1 6 The Coming Day 

shall answer them; while they are yet 
speaking, he will hear. 6 

Violence shall no more be heard in the 
land, wasting nor destruction within its 
borders. 7 

God's ancient people, who have so long 
been prisoners, dwelling in darkness, shall 
come forth to feed in the ways, and their 
pastures shall be in all high places. They 
shall not hunger nor thirst ; neither shall the 
heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath 
mercy on them shall lead them, even by the 
springs of water shall he guide them. 8 

The earth shall yield her increase. The 
wilderness shall become a fruitful field, and 
the fruitful field be counted for a forest. 
Judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and 
righteousness remain in the fruitful field. 
The work of righteousness shall be peace; 
and the effect of righteousness quietness and 
assurance for ever. The people shall dwell 
in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwell- 
ings, and in quiet resting places. 9 

The light of the moon shall be as the light 
of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be 



6. Isaiah 65:21-24. 8. Isaiah 49:9, 10. 

7. Isaiah 60: 18. 9- Isaiah 32: 15-18. 



The Voice of the Prophets 17 

sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the 
day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of 
his people, and healeth the stroke of their 
wound. 10 

In that day the Lord shall destroy the 
face of the covering cast over all people, 
and the vail that is spread over all nations. 
He will swallow up death in victory; and 
the Lord God will wipe away tears from off 
all faces ; and the rebuke of his people shall 
he take away from off all the earth : for the 
Lord hath spoken it. And it shall be said in 
that day, Lo, this is our God; we have 
waited for him, and he will save us : this is 
the Lord ; we have waited for him, we will 
be glad and rejoice in his salvation. 11 

Nature shall awaken and respond to the 
universal harmony. 

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, the 
leopard shall lie down with the kid ; and the 
calf and the young lion and the fatling to- 
gether ; and a little child shall lead them. 12 

The wilderness and the solitary place shall 
be glad; the desert shall rejoice, and blos- 
som as the rose. It shall blossom abun- 



10. Isaiah 30:26. 12. Isaiah 11:6. 

11. Isaiah 25: 7-9. 



1 8 The Coming Day 

dantly, and rejoice even with joy and sing- 
ing. The eyes of the blind shall be opened, 
and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. 
The lame man shall leap as an hart, and the 
tongue of the dumb sing ; for in the wilder- 
ness shall waters break out, and streams in 
the desert. The parched ground, or glowing 
sands, hitherto proving but a mirage, shall 
be actual pools and springs of water. The 
highway shall be called a way of holiness. 
The unclean shall not pass over it. No lion 
shall be there. No ravenous beast shall go 
up thereon. But the redeemed shall walk 
there ; and the ransomed of the Lord shall 
return, and come to Zion with songs and 
everlasting joy upon their heads : they shall 
obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and 
sighing shall flee away. 13 

In such glowing terms, and many more of 
like kind, the prophets have endeavored to 
make clear to us the glories of the kingdom 
that God has promised to establish upon the 
earth. 

He has declared the end from the begin- 
ning, and from ancient times the things that 



13. Isaiah 35. 



The Voice of the Prophets 19 

are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall 
stand, and I will do all my pleasure. 14 

The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, 
Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to 
pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it 
stand. This is the purpose that is purposed 
upon the whole earth : and this is the hand 
that is stretched out upon all the nations. 
The Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who 
shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched 
out, and who shall turn it back ? 15 

These voices, sounding through the cen- 
turies, are definite and clear, telling us of 
the coming kingdom of God. Civilization 
has produced nothing like it. Even the so- 
called Christian nations have demonstrated 
their demoralization. The perfect social 
and political system remains yet "an imagi- 
nary island." 

It has taken a long time to prove that man 
is without resource to bring in the kingdom 
of God. We seem to have forgotten that it 
is his kingdom ; and, having substituted our 
plan for his, we have altogether mistaken 
the order of its institution. 



14. Isaiah 46: 10. 15. Isaiah 14: 24-27. 



20 The Coming Day 

The kingdom will surely come, but in no 
way or form other than the Scripture has 
revealed. 



CHAPTER III 
THE KING OF THE KINGDOM 

DAVID in his last words speaks of the 
King ordained of God to rule over the 
earth. 

He that ruleth over men must be just, 
ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be 
as the light of the morning, when the sun 
riseth, even a morning without clouds ; as 
the tender grass springing out of the earth 
by clear shining after rain. 1 

The dying monarch, conscious of his own 
failure to reach that standard, sorrowfully 
adds — -"Although my house be not so with 
God; yet he hath made with me an ever- 
lasting covenant, ordered in all things, and 
sure." 

The covenant to which the King refers 
was made and attested in the most solemn 
manner. 

I have made a covenant with my chosen, 



i. 2 Samuel 23: 3, 4. 

21 



22 The Coming Day 

I have sworn unto David my servant, Thy 
seed will I establish for ever, and build up 
thy throne to all generations. 2 

The original terms of the covenant are 
recorded in the seventh chapter of the sec- 
ond book of Samuel. In the fulfilment of 
it the glorious kingdom predicted by the 
prophets is to be established upon the earth. 

The terms of the covenant are so clearly 
expressed that no misunderstanding of them 
is possible. The Hebrew prophets, without 
exception, accepted the words in their literal 
meaning and founded their predictions upon 
them. They believed that the royal house 
of David was to be established in surpassing 
glory, and in definite terms they described 
the Ruler who was to come of David's royal 
line. 

From one generation to another the prom- 
ise of this coming kingdom of glory consti- 
tuted the Messianic hope of the Jews. 

In language for which only divine inspira- 
tion can account, the prophet Isaiah fore- 
tells the coming of the King. 

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son 
is given : and the government shall be upon 



2. Psalm 89: 3, 4. 



The King of the Kingdom " 23 

his shoulder: and his name shall be called 
Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, 
The everlasting Father, The Prince of 
Peace. Of the increase of his government 
and peace there shall be no end, upon the 
throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to 
order it, and to establish it with judgment 
and with justice from henceforth even for 
ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will 
perform this. 3 

Jeremiah is equally clear in his prediction 
of the King that was to come. v 

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, 

that I will raise unto David a righteous 

Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, 

and shall execute judgment and justice in 

the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, 

and Israel shall dwell safely : and this is his 

name whereby he shall be called, The Lord 

our Righteousness. 4 

Even the name of the place of his birth 
was pre-announced. 

But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though 

thou be little among the thousands of Judah, 

yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me 

that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings 



3. Isaiah 9:6, 7. 4. Jeremiah 23: 5, 6. 



24 The Coming Day 

forth have been from of old, from everlast- 
ing. 5 

There has never been any divergence of 
opinion as to the meaning of such proph- 
ecies. They refer to our Lord Jesus Christ 
and to no other. The predictions concern- 
ing him are in terms as definite as those de- 
scribing his kingdom. 

With such prophecies to inspire them we 
can easily understand the passionate hope of 
the Jewish people as they looked forward to 
the coming of their Messiah and the institu- 
tion of his kingdom. These people have 
been in part if not altogether condemned for 
holding what has been termed a carnal hope, 
but in all fairness to them we are bound to 
say their hope was justified by the teaching 
of their prophets. 

These prophets were no Utopian dream- 
ers. They claimed to be the mouthpiece of 
Jehovah their God. Unless their writings 
are authoritative and inspired, their utter- 
ances are but the hallucinations of religious 
enthusiasts, and are of no more value to us 
than the vague phantoms that float from un- 
real dreams. 



5. Micah 5: 2. 



The King of the Kingdom 25 

Whether we accept or repudiate the au- 
thority of the Old Testament, we must agree 
in the belief that no such kingdom as the 
prophets predicted has ever been established. 
No such King as they describe has ever 
reigned on David's throne. 

The royal house of David began to col- 
lapse before Solomon had finished his reign. 
Its disintegration continued until the fall of 
Jerusalem under the blows of the Babylo- 
nian monarch; and for more than twenty- 
five hundred years the throne of David has 
been in dust, and his people in dishonored 
dispersion throughout the world. 

They have wept over the accumulating 
sand of their perished dynasty, but from 
generation to generation their Messianic 
hope, unwithered by the hot winds of ad- 
versity, has remained their ever blooming 
crown. 



CHAPTER IV 
THE STAR OF JACOB 

SHALL see him, but not now : I shall 
-*■ behold him, but not nigh: there shall 
come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre 
shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the 
corners of Moab, and destroy all the chil- 
dren of Sheth. 1 

That was the testimony forced from the 
unwilling lips of Balaam as from the height 
of Peor he looked down upon the goodly 
tents of Israel encamped on the borders of 
Moab. 

The Star of Jacob. The Sceptre of Is- 
rael. Let us assume for the moment that in 
these two sentences there is allusion, how- 
ever vague, to the first and the second com- 
ing of Christ. 

The Star of Jacob, unseen at the time by 
the Jews, was the light that illumined the 
way of the Gentiles. 2 



i. Numbers 24: 17. 2. Matthew 2. 

26 



The Star of Jacob 27 

The Sceptre of Israel — so Jacob, in the 
fulness of his years, telling his sons what 
should befall them in the last days — should 
not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from 
between his feet, until the coming of Shiloh 
to whom the gathering of the people should 
be. 3 

Jacob — a type of the nation now blind to 
the Star — is in exile from God. When 
Jacob shall return, transformed into Israel 
— type of the nation redeemed — his eyes 
shall be opened, and he shall behold the 
Sceptre in the hands of Shiloh, unto whom 
the gathering of the people shall be. 

We have but to lift the veil from the face 
of such language in order to discern its plain 
meaning. 

The Star of Jacob is the Messiah of Israel 
their anointed King. 

He was, according to the flesh, of the 
house and lineage of David and sprang from 
the tribe of Judah. 

In him the sceptre of the royal house of 
David was exclusively vested as proved by 
the genealogical records in the Gospels of 
Matthew and Luke. 



3. Genesis 49: 10. 



28 The Coming Day 

The star in the east guided the Gentile 
magi to him ; while the Jews, his own peo- 
ple, were unconscious of the glorious fact 
that he had been born into the world. In 
their unconsciousness they nationally shall 
remain until awakened to a perception of 
his glory. 

The New Testament clearly shows that 
he was, and claimed to be, the Messiah pre- 
dicted by the prophets. By miracles and 
signs his claims were attested. 

During his public ministry great crowds 
attended him, but they were drawn together 
either to hear what he said or to be healed 
of their infirmities. 

There was little or no apprehension of the 
glory of his person. On one occasion, 
searching his disciples as to the prevailing 
opinion, he was told : that some thought 
him to be John the Baptist ; some, Elias ; 
and others, Jeremias, or one of the proph- 
ets. 4 

Peter alone seems to have penetrated his 
disguise; and yet, at the critical hour, it 
was Peter that failed him. 

The Jewish leaders, by whom public sen- 



4. Matthew 16: 14. 



The Star of Jacob 29 

timent was created, viewed him with sus- 
picion and growing resentment. Familiar 
with the Scriptures, as they professed them- 
selves to be, they ignored or refused to 
credit those foretelling the rejection of the 
Messiah. Occupied with and awakened to 
the prophecies of his exaltation and glory, 
they closed their eyes to the predictions of 
his humiliation and sorrow. 

Even the disciples give no evidence of 
their knowledge of any such predictions. 
On his last journey to Jerusalem, Jesus said 
to them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and 
all things that are written by the prophets 
concerning the Son of man shall be accom- 
plished. For he shall be delivered unto the 
Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully 
entreated, and spitted on: and they shall 
scourge him, and put him to death : and the 
third day he shall rise again. And they un- 
derstood none of these things : and this say- 
ing was hid from them, neither knew they 
the things which were spoken. 5 

The popular demonstration that marked 
his entry into the city served only to deepen 
the darkness gathering around him. Be- 



5. I^uke 18: 31. 



30 The Coming Day 

trayed by one of his own disciples, he was 
condemned by the high council of Israel, 
and executed by Pontius Pilate, who caused 
to be written, over the brow of the cross : 
This is Jesus of Nazareth the King of the 
Jews. 

In the darkness of that awful night the 
star of Jacob set. 

Strange ending — if it be the end — of hope 
cherished and centered in the glorious King 
of Israel! 

Were the dying eyes of Jacob, when bless- 
ing Joseph, peering through the unrolling 
centuries ? 

Surely it is of Jesus, not of Joseph, that 
he says, The archers have sorely grieved 
him, and shot at him, and hated him : but 
his bow abode in strength, and the arms of 
his hands were made strong by the hands of 
the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is 
the shepherd, the stone of Israel:) By the 
God of thy father, who shall help thee ; and 
by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with 
blessings of heaven above, blessings of the 
deep that lieth under, blessings of the 
breasts, and of the womb : the blessings of 
thy father have prevailed above the bless- 



The Star of Jacob 31 

ings of my progenitors unto the utmost 
bound of the everlasting hills: they shall 
be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown 
of the head of him that was separate from 
his brethren. 6 

The God of Jacob has guaranteed the fu- 
ture glory of the King of Israel. 



6. Genesis 49 ; 23*26, 



CHAPTER V 
RISEN TO REIGN 

THE priests and the Pharisees looked 
upon Jesus as an impostor. Express- 
ing their contempt to Pilate, they came, say- 
ing, We remember that that deceiver said, 
while yet alive, After three days I will rise 
again. Command therefore that the sepul- 
chre be made sure until the third day, lest 
his disciples come by night, and steal him 
away, and say unto the people, He is risen 
from the dead: so the last error shall be 
worse than the first. 

Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch : 
go your way, make it as sure as ye can. So 
they went, and made the sepulchre sure, 
sealing the stone, and setting a watch. 1 

Neither enemy nor friend expected his 
resurrection. The disciples were in despair. 
Two of them, on the morning of the resur- 
rection, as they traveled over the road to 

i. Matthew 271 63-66. 

32 



Risen to Reign 33 

Emmaus, expressed what was doubtless the 
prevailing thought of all. We trusted that 
it had been he which should have redeemed 
Israel. 2 

Their hope had expired with him in death. 
The redemption of Israel meant for them 
the restoration of David's throne, the insti- 
tution of the kingdom predicted by the 
prophets, and the coronation at Jerusalem 
of the Messiah their King. 

By the death of Jesus, whom they had 
believed to be the Messiah, they were 
stricken with grief and plunged into per- 
plexity. Absorbed in their sorrow they did 
not recognize him when he joined them on 
their journey. Beginning at Moses and all 
the prophets he expounded unto them in all 
the Scriptures the things concerning him- 
self, revealing to them that in fulfilment of 
such prophecies the Messiah must suffer be- 
fore he could enter into his glory. 

During the forty days that followed, by 
many infallible proofs, he showed himself 
alive after his passion, and convinced his 
followers that he was the Messiah of whom 
the prophets had spoken. So fully did he 



2. Iviike 24: 21. 
3 



34 The Coming Day 

restore their confidence in him that just 
prior to his ascension they said to him, Lord, 
wilt thou at this time restore again the king- 
dom to Israel? 3 

In answer to their question they were told 
that it was not for them to know the times 
or the seasons when the restoration of Is- 
rael should occur. 

Reminding them of the promised gift of 
the Holy Ghost, while they beheld, he was 
taken up, and a cloud received him out of 
their sight. 4 

Respecting his return to the world they 
were not left for one moment in doubt ; for, 
while they looked stedfastly toward heaven 
as he went up, behold, two men stood by 
them in white apparel ; which also said, Ye 
men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into 
heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up 
from you into heaven, shall so come in like 
manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. 5 

Nothing could be more definite than this 
promise of the Lord's return. The glorious 
assurance became thereafter the central 
theme in the teaching of his disciples. 



3. Acts 1:6. 5. Acts 1: 10, ii, 

4. Acts 1:8, 9. 



Risen to Reign 35 

Peter on the day of Pentecost definitely 
and clearly states that Christ, in fulfilment 
of the covenant, had been raised from the 
dead to sit on David's throne. 6 

He concludes his remarkable sermon with 
the appalling assertion, Therefore let all the 
house of Israel know assuredly, that God 
hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have 
crucified, both Lord and Christ. 7 

The astounding announcement, that Jesus 
whom they had crucified was both Lord and 
Messiah, produced both amazement and ter- 
ror, and many cried out, What shall we do ? 

Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and 
be baptized every one of you in the name of 
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and 
ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 8 

Though three thousand souls were under 
conviction there was no national turning of 
the people in repentance to God. 

One more and a final appeal was made by 
Peter to the national leaders. At the gate 
of the temple the lame man, through faith in 
the name of Jesus, was healed. 9 

This miracle, wrought in Christ's name, 



6. Acts 2: 25-31. 8. Acts 2: 38. 

7. Acts 2: 36. 9. Acts 3: 1-8. 



36 The Coming Day 

was a proof of his Messianic claims and at 
the same time a condemnation of the people 
who had rejected him. Peter calls upon the 
people to repent, assuring them that, in the 
event of their so doing, their sins should be 
blotted out ; and Jesus, who had been before 
preached unto them, would return for the 
restitution of all things, which God had 
spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets 
since the world began. 10 

The religious leaders showed their con- 
tempt of the preacher and his message by 
committing the disciples to jail. The Jew- 
ish people had reached the limit of God's 
patience. Judgment long predicted should 
now be executed against them. 

Stephen reviews the moral history of the 
people and then brings in the long bill of 
indictment against them. 11 They were a 
stiff-necked people, and uncircumcised — as 
Stephen tells them — in heart and ears. 

The solemn verdict served but to enrage 
them the more. Stoning the light out of 
Stephen's face they sent him, as if in answer 
to a parable before given by the Lord, 12 a 



10. Acts 3: 19-21. 12. Iyuke 19. 

11. Acts 7. 



Risen to Reign 37 

messenger after Him saying, We will not 
have this man to reign over us. 

This act ended Israel's probation as a na- 
tion. The sentence of judicial blindness was 
executed against them ; and from that day 
to this they have in their dispersion and 
exile suffered as no other nation under 
heaven has suffered. Repudiating their own 
glorious King, they called Pilate to witness 
that they had no King but Caesar; and 
under Caesar's iron heel they have been 
ground down in their long continued degra- 
dation. Jerusalem, their holy city, has be- 
come an abhorred sanctuary. Her gates are 
sunk into the ground; her bars, destroyed 
and broken; her king and her princes are 
among the Gentiles; the law is no more; 
her prophets find no vision. 13 

From the daughter of Zion all her beauty 
is departed: her princes are become like 
harts that find no pasture, and they are gone 
without strength before the pursuer. 14 

The kings of the earth, and all the in- 
habitants of the world, would not have be- 
lieved that the adversary and the enemy 



3. lamentations 2:9. 14. Lamentations 1:6. 



38 -The Coming Day 

should have entered into the gates of Jeru- 
salem. 15 

Yet Jerusalem was captured; and we 
know from the prediction of Jesus that 
Jerusalem is destined to be trodden down of 
the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles 
be fulfilled. 



15. Lamentations 4: 12. 



CHAPTER VI 
DURING THE KING'S ABSENCE 

THE Apostles' Creed is commonly ac- 
cepted as a brief statement of Chris- 
tian belief. It expresses faith in the resur- 
rection, the ascension, the present glory, and 
the future coming of Jesus. 

The third day he rose from the dead ; he 
ascended into heaven; and sitteth at the 
right hand of God the Father Almighty ; 
from thence he shall come to judge the 
quick and the dead. 

He has not yet come to judge the quick 
and the dead. Scripture, written in ad- 
vance, clearly predicted what should take 
place upon the earth during the King's ab- 
sence. The reliability of these predictions 
is settled decisively by their fulfilment. 

On one occasion, when Jesus was nigh to 
Jerusalem, and because his disciples thought 
that the kingdom of God should immedi- 
ately appear, he showed them in the terms 

39 



40 The Coming Day 

of an important parable that their thought 
was wrong. 1 

The kingdom of God, of which they were 
thinking, was in all certainty the Messianic 
kingdom predicted by their prophets. The 
disciples believed that Jesus was about to in- 
stitute that kingdom and receive his corona- 
tion. In so thinking they were wrong, and 
the purpose of the parable was to set them 
straight. As a matter of fact, he was about 
to leave them. He was going into a far 
country to receive for himself the kingdom, 
and to return. Meanwhile during his ab- 
sence his servants were to represent him and 
to trade w T ith such capital as he would leave 
with them. His citizens would hate him and 
send a message after him declaring that they 
would not have him to reign over them. In 
due time he should receive the kingdom and 
return. He would then take account of 
those servants to whom he had entrusted 
his interests and afterward execute judg- 
ment upon those who had expressed their 
refusal to have him reign over them. 

In such general terms the parable revealed 



-»- 



i. I^uke 19: 11-27, 



During the King's Absence 41 

what was to go on in the world during the 
King's absence. 

The nobleman of the parable figures none 
other than the Lord Jesus Christ. The citi- 
zens who hated him were the Jews, who in 
their contempt of Jesus stoned Stephen and 
sent him with their defiant message of re- 
jection. Thereupon the sentence of judicial 
blindness was executed upon the Jewish 
people and in such spiritual blindness they 
have remained to this day. 

The disciples were the first of the long 
line of servants who were given instruction 
to occupy until he comes. The work given 
to them was clearly defined. In the power 
of the Holy Spirit they were to go forth to 
be witnesses for their Master, and to pro- 
claim to all men an eternal salvation through 
faith in the crucified, risen, and coming Re- 
deemer. This blessed proclamation was, 
owing to the Jewish rejection, to go out to 
the Gentiles. The purpose of the proclama- 
tion was, as we learn from the Jerusalem 
council, that God might take out from the 
Gentiles a people for his name. This being 
accomplished he would return and build 



42 The Coming Day 

again the tabernacle of David which had 
fallen down. 2 

This agrees with the statement of the 
apostle, that blindness in part has happened 
to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles 
be come in. 3 The plain implication being 
that, salvation having been preached to the 
Gentiles, the Jews should be healed of their 
blindness and Israel be saved. 

The administration of the kingdom by 
men during the King's absence accounts for 
much of the mal-administration and the 
many evils that have crept in. 

The features that mark the period are 
delineated in the seven parables recorded in 
the thirteenth chapter of Matthew. 

The world is represented as a field in 
which there are growing together wheat and 
tares, not to be separated until the age comes 
to its close. Satan is represented as the 
sower of the bad seed and largely responsi- 
ble for the multiplied evils that have been 
afflicting the world during the King's ab- 
sence. 

The church, while here in the world, is 



2. Acta 15: 14-16. 3. Romans 11:25. 



During the King's Absence 43 

not of it, 4 and the registry of her citizenship 
is in heaven. 5 

The world, therefore, during the King's 
absence is a place of conflict; and the dis- 
ciples must expect the same treatment that 
was given by the world to their Lord. 

Under such distressing conditions the 
moral features of the church are drawn in 
the seven letters addressed to the seven 
churches in Asia. 6 

From such condition there is to be no real 
relief until the Lord returns. 



4. John 17: 14-16. 6. Revelation 2:3. 

5. Philippians 3; 20, 



CHAPTER VII 
THE BLESSED HOPE 

pjNDR the grace of God that bringeth sal- 
■*■ vation hath appeared to all men, teach- 
ing us that, denying ungodliness and worldly 
lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, 
and godly, in this present world; looking 
for that blessed hope, and the glorious ap- 
pearing of the great God and our Saviour 
Jesus Christ. 1 

Such is the blessed hope of true believers 
in Christ. They have been turned to God 
from idols to serve the living and true God ; 
and to wait for his Son from heaven. 2 

On the night of his betrayal Jesus said to 
his disciples, and through them to all be- 
lievers of the coming days, I go to prepare 
a place for you. And if I go and prepare a 
place for you, I will come again, and receive 
you unto myself ; that where I am, there ye 
may be also. 3 

i. Titus 2: 11-13. 3. John 14: 2, 3. 

2. 1 Thessalonians 1: 10. 

44 



The Blessed Hope 45 

His desire to have them with him is urged 
in the prayer offered on that same night. 

Father, I will that they also, whom thou 
hast given me, be with me where I am ; that 
they may behold my glory, which thou hast 
given me. 4 

This coming of the Lord, to receive all 
believers unto himself, that they may be 
with him and behold his glory, is the next 
great event in the ordered counsels of God ; 
and it may be expected at any moment. 

No obscurity dims the revelation of this 
blessed hope. All true believers in Jesus, 
whether they be dead or living, are to be re- 
ceived up into glory. Concerning no other 
event connected with them is the revelation 
more clear. 

I am the resurrection, and the life, saith 
the Lord: he that believeth in me, though 
he were dead, yet shall he live. And whoso- 
ever liveth and believeth in me shall never 
die. 5 

The dead in Christ shall live again. The 
living believer, when Jesus comes, shall 
never die. 

Such is the clear statement of Scripture 



4. John 17: 24. 5. John n: 25, 26. 



46 The Coming Day 

that reveals to us this blessed hope. To the 
Lord, descending from heaven, we shall all 
be caught up. The dead in Christ shall rise 
first: then we which are alive and remain 
shall be caught up together with them in the 
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air ; and so 
shall we ever be with the Lord. 6 

The bodies of the saved, of all dispensa- 
tions, shall have part in this first resurrec- 
tion. In radiant clearness of language we 
are told of the glorious bodies in which the 
living and the dead shall rise. 

The dead shall be raised incorruptible. 
The living shall be changed. 7 

When this corruptible shall have put on 
incorruption [he is speaking of the dead], 
and this mortal shall have put on immor- 
tality [he is speaking of the living], then 
shall be brought to pass the saying that is 
written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 8 

Particularly does the apostle speak of the 
change to be wrought in the body of the liv- 
ing believers. Our citizenship is in heaven 
— so he assures us — from whence also we 
look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, 



6. 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18. 8. 1 Corinthians 15: 54. 

7. 1 Corinthians 15: 52. 



The Blessed Hope 47 

who shall fashion anew the body of our hu- 
miliation, that it may be conformed to the 
body of his glory. 9 

In such a sublime revelation there is noth- 
ing to disturb the tranquillity of the be- 
liever's soul. On the contrary such holy 
prospect should inspire intensity of service 
and unfailing devotion. 

Now are we the sons of God — such is our 
exultant claim — and it doth not yet appear 
what we shall be : but we know that, when 
he shall appear, we shall be like him; for 
we shall see him as he is. 10 

The Spirit beareth witness with our spirit, 
that we are the children of God: and if 
children, then heirs; heirs of God, and 
joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we 
suffer with him, that we may be also glori- 
fied together. 11 

Nothing may or should be allowed to dis- 
turb the peace of the soul anticipating so 
blessed a destiny. 

Paul reckons — as if putting down debits 
and credits — that the sufferings of this pres- 



9. Philippians 3: 20, 21. 11. Romans 8: 16, 17. 

10. 1 John 3: 2. 



48 The Coming Day 

ent time are not worthy to be compared with 
the glory which shall be revealed in us. 12 

The call from on high was the object be- 
fore him and the inspiration of his service. 13 

For him there was laid up a crown of 
righteousness, a blessed reward; and not 
for him only, but for all them also that love 
his appearing. 14 

We must all appear before the judgment 
seat of Christ. 15 Of this there can be no 
evasion. 

But this judgment is not to determine the 
believers' salvation. There is neither mem- 
ory nor judgment of sins; for they have 
been atoned for, and are to be remembered 
no more forever. 16 

Redeemed by the blood of his cross we 
shall be received up into glory for the dis- 
tribution of rewards for service. Even a 
cup of cold water given in the name of a 
disciple shall in no wise fail of reward. 17 

The Lord has tarried long. The church 
is sunk in profound sleep. 18 

Some moment, nearer perhaps than we 



12. Romans 8: 18. 16. Hebrews 10: 17. 

13. Philippians 3: 13, 14. 17. Matthew 10:42. 

14. 2 Timothy 4: 8. 18. Matthew 25: 5. 

15. 2 Corinthians 5: 10. 



The Blessed Hope 49 

think, shall be heard the soul-thrilling cry, 
Behold, the bridegroom cometh ; go ye out 
to meet him. 19 

He which testifieth these things saith, 
Surely I come quickly. 

Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. 20 



19. Matthew 25: 6. 20. Revelation 22: 20, 



CHAPTER VIII 
THE DAY OF THE LORD 

THE day of the Lord is an expression 
found so frequently in the writings of 
the Hebrew prophets that there should be 
no misapprehension of its meaning. 

By the use of a good concordance it is 
easily possible, and without much labor, to 
bring together all the verses in which the 
expression occurs. From this fountain- 
head may be derived what may be known 
concerning that great and notable day. 

The expression evidently defines no ordi- 
nary day, but a period of indefinite length, 
still future, during which unfulfilled proph- 
ecies are to be consummated. 

Unfortunately traditional interpretation, 
misapplication, speculation, and assumption 
have all combined to cloud this revelation of 
unequaled solemnity. 

An examination of the passages in which 
the expression occurs, many of which are 

So 



The Day of the Lord 51 

here noted, 1 reveals certain clearly-defined 
features to which all the prophets in their 
testimony unite. 

In almost every passage there is the 
dreary moan of an impending tempest. In 
fact, judgment is the distinctive feature that 
is drawn in sharpest outline. No Christian 
believes that the world is to go on forever 
without an arresting judgment. No one else S 
believes, unless God and revelation are ig- 
nored, in evolution upward to a world of 
settled peace and order. 

The proclamation of the second coming 
of Christ is necessarily a proclamation of 
judgment. 

Enoch, who lived before the flood, was a 
prophet of the second coming of Christ, and 
the New Testament has preserved for us 
the exact language of his proclamation. 

Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thou- 
sands of his saints, to execute judgment 
upon all, and to convince all that are ungod- 
ly among them of all their ungodly deeds 
which they have ungodly committed, and of 

1. Isaiah 2: 12-17; us n, 12; 13: 9-11; 24: 2123; 26: 
20, 21; 34:1-6; 63:1-6; 66:15, 16; Jeremiah 25:31- 
33; Ezekiel 30: 3; Joel 1:15; 2:11; 2:20-32; 3:9-16; 
Amos 5:18-20; Obadiah 15; Zephaniah 1:14-18; Zecha- 
riah 12: 4-9; 14: 1-3; 14: 6, 7. 



52 The Coming Day 

all their hard speeches which ungodly sin- 
ners have spoken against him. 2 

Enoch walked with God: and he was 
not ; for God took him. 3 

Enoch did not die, but was bodily trans- 
lated: 4 and his translation occurred before 
the rain descended and the floods came. 

Noah, saved from the desolating judg- 
ment, may prefigure those who through 
grace shall come out of the approaching 
great tribulation. 5 

The coming judgment, sweeping and ter- 
rific, is not to be executed against believers, 
but against apostate Jews and Christless 
Gentiles. 

The Thessalonians had from some source 
received the impression that the day of the 
Lord 6 — so it should read — was at hand. 

To relieve their distress, and remove all 
wrong instruction, Paul wrote them a letter. 

We beseech you, he says, by the coming of 
our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gather- 
ing together unto him, that ye be not soon 
shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by 



2. Jude 14, 1 5. 5. Revelation 7. 

3. Genesis 5: 24. 6. 2 Thessalonians 2: 2. 

4. Hebrews 11:5. 



The Day of the Lord 53 

spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, 
as that the day of the Lord is at hand. 7 

That day, so he writes, shall not come, ex- 
cept there come a falling away first, and 
that man of sin be revealed, the son of per- 
dition; who opposeth and exalteth himself 
above all that is called God, or that is wor- 
shiped ; so that he as God sitteth in the tem- 
ple of God, showing himself that he is God. 8 

Such are the ordered events that shall 
solemnly toll in the day of the Lord. 

The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and 
our gathering together unto him, means as- 
suredly the reception of all believers in 
glory. Until that has taken place no other 
event can occur to herald the oncoming day. 
The translation of believers from earth to 
heaven is followed by a falling away, an 
apostasy from mere profession, which cul- 
minates in the revelation of the man of sin, 
the son of perdition, who in his blasphemous 
assumption of divine honors makes a de- 
fiant challenge that is answered in person by 
the Lord of glory, who consumes him with 

7. 2 Thessalonians 2: 1, 2. 8. 2 Thessalonians 2: 1-4, 



54 The Coming Day 

the spirit of his mouth and destroys him 
with the brightness of his coming. 9 

This is but a mere outline. Other general 
features may be derived from a study of the 
prophecies. 

The approach of the day is to be marked 
by a great unification in the industrial, po- 
litical, and religious systems of the world. 

In the industrial centers capital unites in 
impressive financial mergers ; labor, in great 
protective unions. 

In the political system the kings of the 
earth set themselves, and the rulers take 
counsel together. 10 

In the religious world there proceeds an 
imposing movement toward church union. 

Men that have given up God and the 
Bible, that exult in their evolution from less 
developed primates, are defining their vis- 
ions and forecasting the coming of a com- 
mon religion. 

Everything reckoned of worth is to be 
salvaged, from Christianity, Islam, Bud- 
dhism, and from any other system that may 
claim merit to enforce recognition. In the 
grand merger we are to find the common 

9. 2 Thessalonians 2: 8. 10. Psalm 2: 2. 



The Day of the Lord 55 

world-religion. Jesus is degraded to the 
level of Gautama and other religious lead- 
ers; their teachings sifted, appraised and 
reconciled to be combined into one harmoni- 
ous whole. 

Man, with no resource outside himself, by 
the slow process of evolution, expects to 
rise to ever higher levels until there emerges 
the superman; who, despite his lofty pre- 
tension, is detected and shown to be the man 
of sin, 11 the little horn of Daniel's vision, 12 
the Beast out of the sea. 13 

Like his prototype, the king of Babylon, 
he shall seek through his own deification to 
unify the religions of the world. His image, 
though made of gold, is but an ugly human 
colossus, like that set up on the plain of 
Dura, before which every man, at the sound 
of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, 
dulcimer, and all kinds of music, shall again 
fall down and worship or be cast into a fiery 
furnace. 14 

From the throne of God, to end such cory- 
bantic carnival, the lightnings leap, the thun- 
ders peal, and judgment falls like hail. 15 



11. 2 Thessalonians 2:3. 14. Daniel 3: 10, 11. 

12. Daniel 7: 8. 15. Revelation 16: 17-21, 

13. Revelation 13: 1-10. 



$6 The Coming Day 

But above the storm the voice of Jehovah 
is heard controlling and directing the judg- 
ment in its path. 16 The waters rise, the 
crash comes, and the cedars of Lebanon — 
symbols of the pride and loftiness of man — 
are shivered and swept away on the swirling 
flood. 

So also the prophet foretells the oncoming 
day of the Lord. 

For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be 
upon every one that is proud and lofty, and 
upon every one that is lifted up; and he 
shall be brought low : and upon all the 
cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted 
up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, and 
upon all the high mountains, and upon all 
the hills that are lifted up, and upon every 
high tower, and upon every fenced wall, 
and upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon 
all pleasant pictures. And the loftiness of 
man shall be bowed down, and the haughti- 
ness of men shall be made low: and the 
Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. 17 

And yet the day, great and terrible though 
it be, ends in a sunset glow of peace. 

And it shall come to pass in that day, that 



1 6. Psalm 29: 3, 17. Isaiah 2: 12-17, 



The Day of the Lord 57 

the light shall not be clear, nor dark : but it 
shall be one day which shall be known to the 
Lord, not day, nor night : but it shall come 
to pass, that at evening time it shall be light. 
And it shall be in that day, that living waters 
shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them 
toward the former sea, and half of them to- 
ward the hinder sea: in summer and in 
winter shall it be. 

And the Lord shall be king over all the 
earth : in that day shall there be one Lord, 
and his name one. 18 



18. Zechariah 14: 6-9. 



CHAPTER IX 
JERUSALEM AND THE JEWS 

A FUTURE siege of Jerusalem followed 
by the collapse of all nations is an un- 
welcome, if not an impossible, concept to 
the idealist indulging in the illusory dream 
of a millennium without Christ. Nothing, 
however, is more certain than the coming 
deliverance of Jerusalem from foreign dom- 
ination, and a judgment upon the nations 
that burden themselves with it. 1 ^ 

Jesus on one occasion declared that Jeru- 
salem should be trodden down of the Gen- 
tiles, until the times of the Gentiles should 
be fulfilled. 2 

Jerusalem was at the time subject to Gen- 
tile authority and under that subjection it 
must remain until the times of the Gentiles 
have run their course. 

From whatever point of view it may be 
regarded, in its past history, in its present 



i. Zechariah 12: 2, 3. 2. I^uke 21: 24. 



Jerusalem and the Jews 59 

degradation, or in its future glory, Jeru- 
salem is one of the most interesting cities of 
the world. As early as the time of Abraham 
it was the royal residence of Melchisedec, 
who was not only a king but a priest also of 
the most high God. 3 So early was the royal 
priesthood of Christ foreshadowed and 
Jerusalem indicated as the habitation of his 
throne. 

At the beginning of the Jewish monarchy 
Jerusalem was in the possession of the Jebu- 
sites, a warlike tribe of Canaan. By David 
this stronghold was captured, rebuilt and 
fortified, and made the capital of his king- 
dom. 4 

There David reigned, and there his suc- 
cessors reigned until the overthrow of the 
city by Nebuchadnezzar, who burned the 
house of God and the king's house, and 
brake down the walls, and together with a 
vast treasure carried the people in captivity 
to Babylon. 5 

With the conquest of Jerusalem by Nebu- 
chadnezzar the times of the Gentiles began ; 
and, according to the prophecy of Jesus, 



3. Hebrews 7:1. 5. Jeremiah 52. 

4. 2 Samuel 5: 6-9. 



60 The Coming Day 

Jerusalem shall not be delivered until the 
times of the Gentiles have been brought to a 
close. 

In the second year of his reign Nebuchad- 
nezzar had a dream which, as interpreted by 
Daniel, revealed to the king the entire period 
of Jerusalem's subjection to Gentile au- 
thority. 6 

The four metals, constituting the colossus 
seen by the king in his dream, represented 
four empires, of which Babylon was the 
first. Media-Persia, Greece, and Rome fol- 
lowed; each in turn holding Jerusalem in 
subjection. The two legs of iron repre- 
sented the division of the fourth empire into 
two governmental centers, one at Constanti- 
nople and the other at Rome. 

The breaking up of the Roman empire did 
not terminate Gentile authority. Its final 
form is represented by the feet and the toes 
of the great image. The toes of the feet 
were part of iron and part of clay, without 
cohesion and at variance. They represent, 
as Daniel interprets, the political form and 
condition of the kingdoms of this world 
when, by a decisive judgment from heaven, 



6. Daniel 2. 



Jerusalem and the Jews 61 

they shall be overwhelmed. Partly strong 
and partly weak and at strife one with an- 
other, they indicate a conflict between des- 
potism and democracy, which ends in the 
annihilation of both. 

The image, when struck upon the feet by 
a stone cut out of the mountain, collapses 
and becomes like the chaff of the summer 
threshingfloors which the wind carries 
away. The stone thereafter becomes a great 
mountain and fills the whole earth. 

The interpretation is perfectly clear. At 
the time of these kings — represented by the 
toes of the image — shall the God of heaven 
set up a kingdom, which shall never be de- 
stroyed : and the kingdom shall not be left 
to other people, but it shall break in pieces 
and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall 
stand for ever. 7 

No such destruction of Gentile world do- 
minion has ever taken place. No such king- 
dom as Daniel predicts has ever been estab- 
lished upon the earth. Christ was put to 
death by an officer of the fourth empire, and 
since that time Jerusalem has been trodden 
down of the Gentiles, and shall continue in 



7. Daniel 2: 44. 



62 The Coming Day 

that subjection until the times of the Gen- 
tiles be fulfilled. 

For the last two thousand years Jerusa- 
lem, like a shuttlecock, has been tossed from 
one nation to another, and at this writing 
the palladium of Great Britain covers the 
fortress of Zion; and the Star of Jacob is 
in the ascendant. 

At the close of the age, and during the 
day of the Lord, Jerusalem is to be the 
storm-center of judgment, and Palestine the 
storm-zone. 

Moses and all the prophets have predicted 
in unmistakable terms the dispersion and 
future restoration of the Jewish people. 
Current history is placing the seal of au- 
thenticity upon these predictions. Rena- 
tionalization of the Jews under British 
guarantee is already in progress. 

The rationalistic and rich Jews, by whom 
this renationalization is directed and fi- 
nanced, define their Messianic hope as an 
ideal civilization. They appear to be with- 
out hope of a personal Messiah. 

The orthodox Jew, on the other hand, 
still cherishes the hope of a coming Messiah. 

With Jerusalem in the hands of the Jews, 



Jerusalem and the Jews 63 

as it is surely destined to be, the stage will 
be fully set for the last act of the world's 
great tragedy. Though the curtain falls on 
scenes of flame and blood, it shall rise again 
to reveal the new earth wherein righteous- 
ness shall reign. 

But there is yet to appear first a trinity of 
evil in which shall be centered the directive 
power that brings on the crisis. 

The Dragon, the Beast, and the False 
Prophet are the names given in the Bible to 
designate the impious and sacrilegious trin- 
ity. 8 

The "dragon" — the spirit of wisdom 
which, being earthly, is sensual, devilish; 
the "beast" — the influence of power, which, 
apostate from God, is bestial; the "false 
prophet" — the inspiration of hopes that are 
not of God. 9 

From this wicked triarchy proceed the 
restless demons that summon the nations to 
their long deferred judgment. 

John, describing these demons, says they 
looked like "frogs" coming out of the mouth 
of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the 
beast, and out of the mouth of the false 



8. Revelation 16: 13. 9. F. W. Grant. 



64 The Coming Day 

prophet : to go forth unto the kings of the 
earth and of the whole world, to gather 
them to the battle of that great day of God 
Almighty. 10 

Under such demoniacal impulse the na- 
tions are to be federated and brought to- 
gether for an assault against Jerusalem. 
But divine wisdom governs all. 

Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and 
thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of 
thee. For I will gather all nations against 
Jerusalem to battle. 11 

A league of nations is therefore some- 
thing more than a political dream: it is a 
prophetic certainty. 

The first Napoleon contemplated a union 
of nations, including France, with himself 
the presiding genius and center of authority. 
The time was not then ripe, but coming 
events were casting their shadows before. 

Ever nearer approaches the fateful hour 
when the assumption of that title and the 
exercise of its prerogative shall proclaim the 
presence of the last great ruler in whom 
Gentile authority shall be expressed and 
centered. By a covenant with him the Jews 



10. Revelation 16: 13, 14. 11. Zechariah 14: 1, 2. 



Jerusalem and the Jews 65 

are to receive the final guarantee of national 
security. By the violation of that covenant 
they shall pass through their last agony and 
their holy city shall be redeemed. 12 

For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, 
and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, 
until the righteousness thereof go forth as 
brightness, and the salvation thereof as a 
lamp that burneth. 13 

That is the promise of Jehovah their God ; 
nor will he rest until it shall be accom- 
plished. 

Without indulging in speculation about 
detail, we may assume that the Jews, when 
they are restored to Palestine, as they surely 
shall be, and when they are in possession of 
their constitutional liberty, will establish 
again the temple services. 

Whether in the land, or out of it, they 
have with undeviating devotion observed 
their religious rites and kept their sacred 
feasts. 

The temple was, and the memory of it is 
now, the nerve center of their religion. 

Jerusalem without a sanctuary would be 
as empty and desolate as Yorick's skull. 

12. Daniel 9: 27. 13. Isaiah 62: 1. 
5 



66 The Coming Day 

History has shown us how fiercely the 
Jews have fought against the profanation 
of their temple. They will be obliged to 
fight again when, the covenant under which 
they shall have returned to Palestine being 
broken, the sanctuary is again dishonored, 
as Jesus in his prophecy declares it shall 
be. 14 

The abomination of desolation standing 
in the holy place will be the great and con- 
clusive sign that the times of the Gentiles 
are running swiftly to a close. Immediately 
after the tribulation of those days shall the 
sun be darkened, and the moon shall not 
give her light, and the stars shall fall from 
heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall 
be shaken : and then shall appear the sign 
of the Son of man in heaven : and then shall 
all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they 
shall see the Son of man coming in the 
clouds of heaven with power and great 
glory. 15 

He comes for the redemption of Jeru- 
salem and the salvation of the Jews. 

Then shall be fulfilled the glorious pre- 
diction concerning them. The Gentiles shall 



14. Matthew 24: 15. 15. Matthew 24: 29, 30. 



Jerusalem and the Jews 67 

see their righteousness, and all kings their 
glory: and they shall be called by a new 
name, which the mouth of the Lord shall 
name. They shall also be a crown of glory 
in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem 
in the hand of their God. They shall no 
more be termed Forsaken; neither shall 
their land any more be termed Desolate; 
but they shall be called Hephzibah, and their 
land Beulah: for the Lord delighteth in 
them, and their land shall be married. 16 



16. Isaiah 62: 2-4. 



CHAPTER X 
THE SCEPTRE OF ISRAEL 

THE last persecution of the Jews and 
the final siege of Jerusalem will sound 
the knell of Gentile World Dominion. 

Attention has been called to the malign 
influence under which the nations are to be 
gathered together to battle against Jerusa- 
lem. 

In the day when kings are so assembled 
the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom, 
which shall never be destroyed: and the 
kingdom shall not be left to other people, 
but it shall break in pieces and consume all 
these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. 1 

The second Psalm is a prophecy and pic- 
ture of the coming confederation. 

The kings of the earth set themselves, and 
the rulers take counsel together. 

They pass a resolution, impious and de- 
fiant, against Jehovah and Christ. 



i. Daniel 2: 44. 

68 



The Sceptre of Israel 69 

Let us break their bands asunder, and 
cast away their cords from us. 

In vain do they so resolve, for he that 
sitteth in the heavens shall laugh : the Lord 
shall have them in derision. 

In no passive attitude does Jehovah re- 
gard their rebellion. Over against their set- 
tled purpose he reveals his : Yet have I set 
my king upon my holy hill of Zion. 

The kings of the earth, though banded 
together, are without power to annul or alter 
the covenant that Jehovah has made with 
his Anointed. The decree has been de- 
clared. Christ has but to ask, and to him 
shall be given the heathen for his inherit- 
ance, and the uttermost parts of the earth 
for his possession. 

Impotent is the wrath of the kings who 
shall arise to contest his claim. He shall 
break them with a rod of iron ; he shall dash 
them in pieces like a potter's vessel. 

The kingdoms of this world are not to be 
merged into the kingdom of God by the 
gradual extension of the Gospel. Only by a 
direct intervention of heaven, and through a 
decisive judgment, shall Christ enter upon 
his inheritance. All the prophets unite in 



70 The Coming Day 

their testimony that in such manner the 
earth is to be purged and the kingdom of 
God established. 

In the book of Revelation the confeder- 
ated kings are represented as mustered on 
the historic battlefield of Armageddon. As 
if anticipating their destruction, an angel is 
seen, standing in the sun, and calling upon 
all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, 
saying, Come and gather yourselves together 
unto the supper of the great God; that ye 
may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of 
captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and 
the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on 
them, and the flesh of all men, both free and 
bond, both small and great. 2 

Over against this scene of gathering vul- 
tures there is another revelation which, for 
sublimity of expression, is without a parallel 
in the Word of God. 

And I saw heaven opened, and behold a 
white horse ; and he that sat upon him was 
called Faithful and True, and in righteous- 
ness he doth judge and make war. His 
eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head 
were many crowns; and he had a name 

2. Revelation 19: 17, 18. 



The Sceptre of Israel 71 

written, that no man knew, but he himself. 
And he was clothed with a vesture dipped 
in blood : and his name is called The Word 
of God. And the armies which were in 
heaven followed him upon white horses, 
clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And 
out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that 
with it he should smite the nations ; and he 
shall rule them with a rod of iron : and he 
treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and 
wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on 
his vesture and on his thigh a name written, 
King of kings, and Lord of lords. 3 

To make war against him that sat on the 
horse, and against his army, the beast, and 
the kings of the earth, and their armies are 
gathered together. 4 

Armageddon, the great plain stretching 
from Mount Carmel to the Jordan and lying 
between the hills of Samaria and Galilee, is 
the place appointed for the beginning of the 
great battle in which the Lord, in his coming 
glory, shall deliver the Jewish remnant be- 
sieged by the hostile kings led by the beast 
and false prophet. 5 



3. Revelation 19: 11-16. 5. Revelation 16: 13-16; 

4. Revelation 19: 19. Zechariah 12: 1-9. 



72 The Coming Day 

Apparently this great host, whose ap- 
proach to Jerusalem is described by the 
prophet Isaiah, 6 alarmed by the signs which 
precede the Lord's coming, 7 have turned 
back to Megiddo, after the events foretold 
by Zechariah, 8 where their destruction be- 
gins ; a destruction that is consummated in 
Moab and on the plains of Idumea. 9 

The battle is as brief as it is decisive. At 
the revelation of Christ in glory the vaunted 
rulers of the earth fall back in deadly fear. 
There is a violent earthquake. The sun be- 
comes black as sackcloth of hair. The moon 
rolls in the darkened heavens like a ball of 
blood. The stars of heaven fall to the earth, 
even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, 
when she is shaken of a mighty wind. The 
heaven departs as a scroll when it is rolled 
together; and every mountain and island 
are moved out of their places. 

In the presence of such awful phenomena 
the kings of the earth, recently so brave and 
self-reliant, together with their infatuated 
followers, hide themselves in the dens and 
in the rocks of the mountains ; and call on 



6. Isaiah 10: 28-32. 9. Isaiah 63: 1-6. See Scofield 

7. Matthew 24: 29, 30. Reference Bible note, 

8. Zechariah 14: 2. 



The Sceptre of Israel 73 

the mountains and rocks to fall on them, and 
hide them from the face of him that sitteth 
on the throne, and from the wrath of the 
Lamb. 10 

For the whole creation, so long groaning 
and travailing in pain, 11 the hour of deliver- 
ance has come. 

No wonder if, in such an hour, there be 
terrific cosmic disturbances. Even the very 
celestial spaces seem to reverberate with the 
conflicting thunder of light and darkness. 

We dare not attribute the majestic lan- 
guage of Scripture to oriental imagination 
and thereby strip it of its force and fullness 
of meaning. 

The feet of Christ shall stand literally in 
that day upon the Mount of Olives. 12 The 
mountain shall be riven asunder, part of it 
moving to the north and part of it to the 
south; a great valley stretching between, 
the valley of decision, designated by the 
prophets as the place of judgment of the 
Gentiles. 13 

The Lord shall roar out of Zion, and utter 
his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens 



10. Revelation 6: 12-16. 12. Zechariah 14: 4. 

11. Romans 8: 22. 13. Joel 3: 12. 



74 The Coming Day 

and the earth shall shake : but the Lord will 
be the hope of his people, and the strength 
of the children of Israel. 14 

Before the great assize, when the nations 
shall pass in review for judgment, the beast 
shall be taken, and with him the false proph- 
et ; and these both shall be cast alive in the 
lake of fire burning with brimstone. 15 
The judgment of the nations follows. 16 
Satan is then bound, and cast into the pit 
of the abyss, that he may no more deceive 
the nations until the thousand years of 
Christ's reign upon the earth shall be ful- 
filled. 17 

After these judgments the light of the 
kingdom, so long deferred, dawns in splen- 
dor upon the earth. The glory of this king- 
dom surpasses the imagination of man to 
conceive. No less glorious is the King 
whose kingdom it is to be. 

In the work of redemption he has trodden 
the winepress alone. But the Redeemer of 
sorrow is the King of glory. Before him 
the everlasting gates shall be lifted up ; and 



14. Joel 3: 16. 

15. Revelation 19:20. 

16. Zechariah 14: 1-9; Matthew 25: 31-46. 

17. Revelation 20: 1-3. 



The Sceptre of Israel 75 

Zion, purged of filthiness and blood, shall 
become the habitation of his throne. The 
earth shall be filled with the knowledge of 
the glory of God. Thought is exhausted in 
the attempt to rise higher. 

It is no degradation for Christ to institute 
and to constitute such a kingdom of glory. 

For the coming of that kingdom we have 
prayed. In the hope of its coming we labor. 
No cloud of pessimism should darken the 
horizon that is already aflame with the won- 
ders of the coming day. 

None, with such a blessed hope to cherish, 
should fail in service or look out into the 
future with despair. 

The apostle Paul, telling us of our res- 
urrection from the dead and our victory 
over the grave, closes with the ringing ap- 
peal, Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye 
steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in 
the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye 
know that your labor is not in vain in the 
Lord. 18 



18. 1 Corinthians 15: 58. 



SUMMARY 

A brief summary of future events related to 
the Coming Day of the Lord. 

1. The Translation of the Church from 

Earth to Heaven. 1 

2. The Revelation of the Man of Sin. 2 

3. His Covenant with the Jewish Nation. 3 

4. The Coming of Elijah. 4 

5. The Testimony of the Two Witnesses. 5 

6. The Sealing of a definite number of 

Israel for Preservation during the 
Great Tribulation. 6 

7. The Beginning of Sorrows. 7 

8. The Expulsion of Satan from Heaven. 8 

9. The Profanation of the Temple. 9 
10. Demon Possession. 10 

i. i Thessalonians 4: 13-18. 

2. 2 Thessalonians 2: 1-12. 

3. Daniel 9: 27. 

4. Malachi 4:5, 6; Matthew 17: 10, 11. See Scofield 
Reference Bible note. 

5. Revelation 11:3-12. 

6. Revelation 7: 1-8. 

7. Matthew 24: 6-8. 

8. Revelation 12: 7-12. 

9. Matthew 24: 15; Revelation 13: 11-18. 

10. Revelation 16: 13. 

77 



78 The Coming Day 

11. The League of Nations. 11 

12. The Siege of Jerusalem. 12 

13. Cosmic Changes. 13 

14. The Sign of the Son of Man in Heaven. 14 

15. The Coming of Christ in Glory. 15 

16. Armageddon. 16 

17. Doom of the Beast and False Prophet. 17 

18. Reception of the Beast in Sheol. 18 

19. The Restoration of Israel. 19 

20. Judgment of the Gentile Nations. 20 

21. Imprisonment of Satan. 21 

22. Institution of the Kingdom. 22 

23. The Coronation of the King. 23 

24. Zion Constituted the City of the Great 

King. 24 

25. Restitution of All Things.' 



25 



11. Psalm 2: 1, 2. 

12. Zechariah 14: 1, 2. 

13. Isaiah 24: 19, 20; Matthew 24: 29; Revelation 6: 
12-17; Isaiah 34: 4. 

14. Matthew 24: 30. 

15. Isaiah 66: 15, 16; Revelation 19: 11-16. 

16. Revelation 19: 19. 

17. Revelation 19: 20. 

18. Isaiah 14: 9-1 1. 

19. Isaiah 59:20; Zechariah 12:10; 13:1; Deuter c 
onomy 30: 1-3; Hosea 2: 14-23; Romans 11: 26, 27. 

20. Joel 3:2; Matthew 24: 31-46. 

21. Revelation 20: 1-3. 

22. Isaiah 45:20-25; 52:1-3, 8-10; 60:8-14; 62:11, 
12; Revelation 11: 15; Psalm 72. 

23. Zechariah 14:9; Isaiah 45:23; Philippians 2:5- 
1 1 ; Psalm 24. 

24. Isaiah 33: 20-22; Psalm 48; Isaiah 1: 27; 2: 3; 4: 
4-6. 

25. Acts 3: 21; Isaiah 35. 



Summary 79 

26. The Loosing of Satan. 26 

27. The Invasion from Russia. 27 

28. End of the Last Revolt. 28 

29. The Doom of Satan. 29 

30. The Judgment of the Impenitent Dead. 30 

31. The Dissolution of the Framework of 

the Earth. 31 

32. The New Heavens and the New Earth. 32 

33. The Holy City. 33 

34. All Tears Gone. 34 

35. The New Temple. 35 

36. The Paradise of God. 36 



26. Revelation 20: 7. 

27. Revelation 20 : 8. 

28. Revelation 20: 9. 

29. Revelation 20: 10. 

30. Revelation 20: 11-15. 

31. 2 Peter 3: 10. 

32. Isaiah 65: 17; 2 Peter 3: 13; Revelation 21: 1. 

33. Revelation 21 : 2. 

34. Revelation 21 : 4. 

35. Revelation 21:22. 

36. Revelation 22', 1-7, 



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